Introducing Carlos O’Connell, an Emulator of Roger Waters

Both a guitarist and a rabid hater of Israel, just like Roger Waters, Carlos O’Connell took the occasion of his Irish band’s being given an award for “Best Album” at the Rolling Stone UIKAwards on November 1 to denounce the embattled and much-maligned Jewish Israel. More on his outburst can be found here: “Irish Band Guitarist Says ‘Free Palestine, F—k Zionism’ on Stage at Rolling Stone UK Awards,” by Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner, December 2, 2024:

The guitarist of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Zionism, and voiced support for a “Free Palestine,” when receiving the award for Best Album at the 2024 Rolling Stone UK Awards on Saturday.

“What a night,” Carlos O’Connell began by saying at London’s Roundhouse, upon accepting the award on behalf of his band for their latest album “Romance.”

“I don’t know, I just think there’s only a couple of words to say here,” O’Connell continued. He then added, “It’s kind of weird that this is the first time it’s been said all night, but I’m just gonna say it: Free Palestine. Free Palestine. Free Palestine. F—k Netanyahu. F—K Zionism. Free Palestine.”…

Beautifully put, Carlos. Really, how do you come up with such things?

“We were really looking forward to visiting and playing beautiful Istanbul; however in this instance, we must be clear in our convictions and put solidarity with the people of Palestine first,” the statement further read. It also accused Israel of committing a “genocide.”

And let’s not forget to mention the other charges hurled at Israel these days: of committing not only “genocide” but also unspecified “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.” There is no atrocity, we must understand, that the settler-colonial state has not committed. Ask Karim Khan, Francesca Albanese, or Ayatollah Khamenei.

Fontaines DC has also previously called for a ceasefire to end the ongoing Israel-Hamas war “in solidarity with the Palestinian people living under a brutal military operation.” Over the summer, the band won a viral music quiz on TikTok and donated the cash prize of $2,560 to Doctors Without Borders “for Palestine.”

That “brutal military operation” that the rock group Fontaines DC accuses Israel of conducting in Gaza is, of course, nothing of the sort. The IDF makes tremendous efforts to minimize civilian casualties. To that end, already by March the IDF had dropped nine million leaflets, sent fifteen million text messages, and made sixteen million robocalls, all to warn civilians in Gaza away from sites about to be targeted. That is why British Colonel Richard Kemp, the veteran of a half-dozen wars and the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, has called the IDF “the most moral army in the world,” and why John Spencer, a West Point professor who specializes in the study of urban warfare, has concluded that “the IDF Israel has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other military in the history of war.”

In addition, Israeli pilots are instructed to abort missions if they detect too many civilians in the area of the target; about half of all such missions are aborted as a result.

Finally, that key metric — the ratio of civilian-to-combatant deaths — shows how careful Israel is to minimize civilian casualties. About 45,000 people have been killed in Gaza to date. The IDF believes that 20,000 of them were members of Hamas. In addition, for years the average number of deaths in Gaza unrelated to combat, including from disease and accidents, stood at 800 per month.

Assuming that number still holds, in the 14 months of the Gaza war, then, 11,200 (800 x 14) Gazans died of diseases and accidents. The number of civilians killed because of the war can be calculated as follows: 45,000 dead, from which we subtract an estimated 20,000 members of Hamas. We arrive at a figure of 25,000, from which number we must further subtract the figure of 11,200, or 13,800 civilians killed. That figure is regrettable, but nothing like the figure Hamas puts out, and that the media uncritically repeat, of “45,000 dead, 70% of them women and children.” As for civilian-to-combatant deaths, the UN has reported that in all the wars fought since 1945, that ratio has stood at 9:1. In Afghanistan, the Americans managed to achieve a ratio of 4;1, and in Iraq, of 3:1. But no other army has come anywhere near what Israel has done, in achieving a ratio of 13,800:20,000, which is far less than 1:1. Perhaps the members of Fontaines DC would care to consider that evidence?

There is a “brutal occupation” of Gaza, all right, but it is not by the IDF. It is Hamas that for decades has held the people of Gaza in thrall. It is Hamas that murders any Gazans who have dared to oppose its corruption and despotic rule. It is four Hamas leaders who have stolen for themselves a total of $14 billion in aid meant for the people of Gaza: Khaled Meshaal ($4 billion), Mousa Abu Marzouk ($3 billion), the late Ismael Haniyeh ($4 billion) and the late Yahya Sinwar ($3 billion), and it is primarily their massive theft has impoverished Gaza.

If Carlos O’Connell continues on his chosen path of extreme anti-Israel animus, that inevitably descends into antisemitism, he will end up having it said of him some day what Polly Samson said of another anti-Israel guitarist, Roger Waters, whom she described so memorably In a posting on X: “Sadly @rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.”

Keep it up, Carlos. You are on your way.